Easter in Danville...

Easter Weekend was spent with Grandma and Grandpa J in Danville. Josh was really dreading the drive since A) the drive stinks and B) we had another addition that will probably require several stops. After driving back and forth we can safely say that while the drive did indeed stink, Natalie was an angel. In fact, she slept the entire 4 hour drive down and all but 15 minutes the way back.

Easter morning started out with Grandma J outfitting Natalie with an Easter Egg headband. Luckily, Natalie didn't seem to mind and stayed still for the photo opportunity. Next Kaija thought it would be a good idea for Natalie to wake up Josh with a "Happy Easter". Unfortunately, when she put Natalie on the bed, Natalie proceeded to throw up all over the place - Good Morning Daddy! Anyway, that canceled our church plans, but we were still able to put Natalie in her beautiful Easter dress and open Easter baskets. Natalie enjoyed pulling every item out, including books, CD's, stuffed animals and bubbles! Eventually she got down to her favorite item in the whole basket...the plastic green grass. We literally had to pry it out of her hands, which of course, made her cry. Danville provided a lot of R&R which was just what Josh and Kaija needed. Enjoy the pictures of Natalie in her Easter dress.
Upon our return home, we realized that it was finally time to upgrade Natalie to her big girl car seat. She seems to be enjoying them so far and Kaija and Josh are enjoying not having to lug around the baby carrier anymore. Now we are just counting down the time to her first birthday so she can face forward!

Another tooth also poked through this weekend. Now she has two bottom teeth, so hopefully the ones on the top will come through soon. Unfortunately, this has not increased her interest in eating table food, but she still loves her baby food. We've eaten through most fruits and vegetables and have now introduced yogurt and strained meats (doesn't that sound tasty?).

Trip to New York and a Toothie!

We delayed the inevitable as long as possible..okay 9 months, but whose counting? Anyway, on Thursday evening we embarked on the journey to Rochester to visit Kaija's family. 7 1/2 hours later at midnight we pulled into the driveway unscathed. Natalie did amazing on the trip - made it through a traffic jam, ate dinner in her car seat and only required one stop for a diaper change/feeding before falling asleep for the last 3 hours of the trip. Friday we spent a lazy day around the house before going out to dinner to celebrate Uncle Cole's 25th birthday and then back home for Grandma D's amazing homemade chocolate cake. Saturday morning we got quite the surprise while playing with Natalie..she was laughing when Josh caught sight of something. After prying her lip down, it was confirmed, Natalie's lower center tooth had broken through! A little later, while looking at the first tooth, we noticed a second tooth had slightly broken through although not as noticeable as the first. Later that afternoon the entire Dinse clan came over to meet Natalie. Of course, she loved being the center of attention as usual and especially loves her new Laugh N Learn Purse from her cousin Izzy. Sunday morning we packed up again after too short of a visit and made it back to Ashburn in a record 6 hours. See you in April Grandpa and Grandma D! However, no rest for the weary as we plan on heading to Danville Easter weekend.

You have to crawl before you can walk

Its about that time. Natalie is on the verge of crawling. This is going to be a bitter sweet triumph for mom and dad. On one hand, she'll be crawling and be more independent. On the other hand our days and evenings are going to be a lot busier...but we digress. The scenario, from a seating position, Natalie will go onto her knees and rock back and forth a little. She has not fully grasped moving both her hands and knees simultaneously. However, we are certain it is just a matter of time. Check out her new video on the right of her near feat.

A Smile and a Hi...

Banging blocks and clapping doesn't seem to get the same reaction from mom and dad anymore. So, Natalie has learned to wave and occasionally say, Hi. Its not phonetically perfect but she is definitely saying Hi. Mom and dad are back to giving the 'something new' and 'its so cute' smiles. Luckily Grandma and Grandpa J were in town to hear the start of Natalie's new found talent. Natalie's favorite thing to wave to...Hokie Cat. Fortunately Hokie generally turns his back and walks into another room and Natalie will start waving to mom and dad. Her favorite time to wave is after a nap. We don't have pictures of Natalie waving but we'll post some video sometime soon.

Hand and Eye Coordination...

Last week we blogged about Natalie banging blocks together. Well, we are happy to post that she has now dropped the blocks and learned to clap her hands. Natalies hand eye coordination is amazing. Josh likes to think his days of playing Nintendo and Sega Genesis had something to do with that. Anyway, she claps when she's happy, she claps when she eats, she claps when she plays, she claps when she gets her diaper changed. Quite frankly, she is a clapping machine. Its very cute and she seems to enjoy herself as she claps. Here is a picture of Natalie with Grandma J as they stroll around the kitchen...Grandma singing and Natalie clapping.